' 394 
G2 D9 
:opy 1 



The 
Early History 

of 
Galveston 



DR. JC^O. DYER 

n 
GALVESTON, TEXAS 



CENTENARY EDITION 
PART I. 



Copyright by Joseph O. Dyer 
igi6 



fr-3 9-'-'- 



^b 






OSCAR SPRINGER PRINT 
GALVESTON ::TEXAS 



•CI.A431908 



JUL 17 1916 
1i^ ( 



Jforewoi^. 



Galveston was first visited by the writer in 1874, wlio became deeply in- 
terested in its early history, because it was closely connected with that of 
his family. Besides the history of Lafitte and the Cannibal Indians presented 
a "glamour" to a young and active mind. The notes of Galveston were thus 
first gathered, when men were living, who had been in contact with the 
Indians, and a few wlio had been associated even with Lafitte. 

The father of Galveston's history. Col. Warren D. C. Hall, not only left 
Ms memoirs, but for many years entertained his neighbors down the island 
with the tales of early days. Mrs. Gen. Long, of Richmond, visited the 
writer's family for many years. Col. Leon Dyer was intimate with Colonel 
Hall and Colonel Graham in 1836. Both these gentlemen were on the island 
previous to 1820. Five of Lafitte's associates were still alive, and they and 
their families have contributed to this history. The late N. B. Yard kept a 
scrap-book, as did Geo. W. Grover and Isadore Dyer. Clippings from old 
Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile and Baltimore papers were invaluable, and 
so were old files of still existing copies. To the descendants of old families, 
the writer offers this method of thanks for assistance rendered. Southwick 
and Ben Stuart have left interesting memoirs. The 1900 hurricane de- 
stroyed many valuable papers, but it is hoped enough were saved to make a 
fairly accurate and interesting history. The writer admits the work should 
have been done many years earlier, but the demands of medical practice, 
family cares and illness prevented this. The object of this work is to only 
preserve the early history of Galveston, touching lightly on matters imme- 
diately before the war. The record since the war has been faithfully chron- 
icled by others. As the various city and private corporations have full 
records of their staffs, this volume will not be burdened with long lists of 
officials or employees, the same applies to the postoffice and customs 
service. An attempt has been made to accurately depict the method of life, 
as well as the surroundings, of the people who lived here during the early 
period of the island's settlement. 



The Early History of Galveston. 



(Balveston Uelan^. 

Location: Thirty-six miles along the coast from southwest to northeast. 
The South Channel separates the island from Pelican Island, and forms the 
harbor. 

Latitude Galveston Bar, 39° 18' N. 
Longitude Galveston Bar, 94° 47' W. 



Discover^?. 

In 1518 Don Juan de Grijalva explored the gulf coast as far as the 
Santander River. Two years later Alonzo Alverez de Pineda was nine 
months exploring the gulf coasts. In 1827 an expedition was sent by Panfilio 
de Nunez, Governor of Florida, which was wrecked on an island called 
Malhardo, which was situated near the mouth of the Espiritu Santo or Holy 
Spirit River. Whilst many believed this to have been the Mississippi River, 
others claimed that one of the rivers near Galveston was also called by this 
name and that Malhardo was Galveston. The island which was described 
as being the prison place of Cabeza de Vaca and his companions, from 
which Nunez and Oviedo escaped, resembled all other gulf isles. One hun- 
dred years ago they were still sand keys and visited by bands of Indians, 
and no proof can be adduced from the description which tallied with that 
of all the islands on the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Perhaps the name 
which was given in 1685, and which held good for over 100 years, is the 
correct one. 

La Salle called Galveston Island, which he discovered, in honor of the 
I'rench Kii^g, "San Louis," a name it retained for many years. As late as 
1821 the island was called San Louis by a New Orleans newspaper. The 
Spaniards, however, when they acquired Texas with Mexico, called the 
island Culebra or Snake Island, and the small sister isle then in existence 
to the east Little Culebra Island. The name of San Louis Island after 1825 
was applied to the island west of Galveston Island. The name of Galves- 
ton Island was given after Lafitte called his settlement Galveztown in 1819. 
The small Culebra island Lafitte renamed Campeachy. Galveston was not 
named directly in honor of Bernado de Galvez, Governor of Mexico. It was 
called the town in the territory of Galvez, which was a quartel or garrison 
fort on the Trinity River, near Liberty, named after the famous governor. 
Said Galvez was the home of the Alcalde, who presided over the Trinity 
River, the Bay of Galvez and its islands. New Orleans was called after the 
territory of Orleans, in which it was located. The Spanish name, "Snake 
Island," was given because the islands were infested by thousands of snakes. 
In 1835 a hurricane filled up the pass through which Lafitte sailed his 



The Early History of Galveston. 



vessels and Little Campeachy ceased to exist; the two islands became the 
present island of Galveston. 

Galveston Island was charted as early as 1526 at Seville, the Casa de 
Contratacion controlling the trade of the colonies. This tribunal, whilst it 
permitted colonization, insisted on all trade being carried on with the mother 
country (Spain) only; that all merchandise had to be carried in Spanish 
vessels, and that the colonies should not antagonize the mother country's 
trade in either oil or wine. 



(Balveeton Helant) ^Before IS15. 

Possibly Galveston island had few permanent white settlers previous to 
1815. Refugees from justice in the states, or hunters, may have frequented 
the island. 

Col. W. D. C. Hall claimed that a white man was hunting on the island 
in 1815, when he paid his first visit to Galveston Bay. The Carancahua and 
Tonkaway tribes of Indians, however, frequently visited the island to hunt 
or fish, especially the first named tribe. The island was well stocked with 
deer, and in winter the ponds and marshes were visited by game fowls. The 
greater part of the island then was bayou and marsh, and the vegetation 
was very luxuriant. Marsh grasses, wild blackberry bushes and tangles of 
salt cedar afforded shelter for thousands of snakes. About twelve miles 
down the island there extended a long ridge of shell elevated ten or twelve 
feet over the surrounding marshes. This ridge was free from snakes, and 
at this place the Indians camped. The gulf front of the island was covered 
with sand hills and the drift of centuries, forming a barrier against en- 
croachment by the sea. The overflows of the island were caused by the 
northeast storms forcing the bay waters over the shallow island. Succes- 
sive storms had caused the formation of shell deposits which became the 
higher ridge alluded to. The Indians never formed a permanent camp on 
the island. They feared the snakes and the frequent and severe hurricanes. 
Undoubtedly many Indians in their frail canoes were overtaken by and lost 
in storms. The Gulf of Mexico then was the highway of great commercial 
activity between Spain and Mexico. Many vessels were lost on Galveston 
Island and the sand hills were frequently covered by wreckage. 

Colonel Hall, who was very friendly with the Indians, learned that a 
number of moons before he met tlie Indians a vessel had been wrecked 
that was loaded with wines. The tribe was drunk for several weeks. A 
squaw, an outcast on the island, told Colonel Hall that long before when 
she was small there was a great storm. That tlie water on the island was 
so deep that members of the tribe on the high ridge and in a camp were 
drowned. A few days after, the balance of the band who had a camp 
thirty miles up the Trinity, came to the island and found no trace of their 
companions. A ship, however, had foundered and a few survivors were 
on the beach. The Indians approached them in a friendly manner, but were 
fired upon. The Indians were unarmed, but returned to their canoes for 
tlieir bows and arrows. They killed all the men, of which there were 



The Early History of Galveston. 



"different colors." The dark men were partly eaten at a feast — the flesh 
from their legs and arms was stripped off and baked over a fire. A little 
girl was not killed, but adopted by the tribe. She was seen by several 
white men when a grown woman, and whilst she looked somewhat like a 
squaw, her features were different, her hair blonde and fine, and her limbs 
small. She had a red scar around her neck, and was very timid and afraid 
of white men. The Carancahuas, or Carrion Indians, only ate the flesh 
of enemies slain in battle, and tlien only of part of their bodies. (There 
are no records of their eating white men in Texas.) There were other man- 
eating tribes, the Attakapans, with whom the Carancahuas were frequently 
confounded. In 1810, a severe hurricane visited the Gulf of Mexico, driving 
the spray six miles inward on the coast of Louisiana and rendering the 
water in the rivers salty for twehty or thirty miles inland. Galveston 
Island had but a few oak trees, a slight ridge extended on the bay shore 
in the east end. A pass one-fourth mile wide and very deep separated the 
two islands. 

The center of the east part of the island (present city) was a 
large bayou, connecting with other bayous to the west, ending in a large 
marsh. The bayous had entrances to the gulf and bay. The islands in 
the bay were mere sandbars, and the island extended much further east. 



IpcrioJ) after 1S15— ©alveston Bstablisbe^. 

Col. H. Perry and W. D. C. Hall were both in the McGee revolutionary 
movement in 1812-13, terminating in the defeat at Medina. In the spring 
cf 1815 both Perry and Hall joined the Ariaya movement. Colonel Hall 
went to his native parish to recruit, joining Perry at the island of Chat au 
Tigre (Tiger Cat) in Vermillion Bay. He had a camp also at Shell Island, 
but had some trouble there with United States officers. He started with 
two sloops and one schooner and two hundred men about September 1, 
1815. On September 15, 1815, he landed at Bolivar with three vessels, named 
the peninsula in honor of President Bolivar of Venezuela, from whom he, 
as well as Aury, held commissions. Colonel Hall was a member of the 
landing party. Colonel Perry, in October, visited the Coshutta camp on 
the Trinity above Liberty. On his return, as his boat was crossing the bay, 
he saw the wreckage of one of his ships. His return had been hastened 
by a terrific hurricane which destroyed the Indian village. Clinging to the 
wreckage, he picked up Captain Daugherty. Some survivors floated to Vir- 
ginia Point. Out of seventy-seven, eleven men and one woman were saved. 
Having no food, one of the men who perished, Davis, was eaten. Perry 
v/as waiting for reinforcements to invade Mexico the second time. One of 
his ships returning from New Orleans was wrecked in a norther, sixty 
being lost, the balance again were saved on a naked sandpit projecting from 
the mainland (Virginia Point). When his third vessel was wrecked, Feb- 
ruary 4, 1816, Perry abandoned his expedition. On September i Commo- 
dore Aury arrived at Bolivar with a fleet. 

Picking up a few of Perry's men who had a camp at Bolivar, Commo- 
dore Aury established a camp at the east end of the larger island called 



The Early History of Galveston. 



Culebras, or Snake. Island (Galveston). Colonel Hall was with the men at 
Perry's camp, and he later described the friendly intercourse with the 
Indians. On the 12th of September, 1816, after having established his camp, 
i\ury's government was inaugurated with great flourish. He had four hun- 
dred men, several prizes and a number of negroes. A newspaper containing 
the government orders was published by Samuel Bangs. The negroes were 
confined in a stockade, and an Admiralty Court was installed on November 
16, 1816. Lafitte's men from Louisiana, and adventurers, now made Aury's 
force six hundred. His fifteen vessels, small craft belonging to Venezuela, 
Carthagena, Grenada and La Plata, were reinforced by two privateers from 
New Orleans with heavy armament. These ships swept the gulf, and brought 
ill so many prizes that the government was self-supporting. 

Louis Aury was a Carthagenian who was enlisted by General Herrera to 
help the Mexican patriots under President Morales. He was appointed 
by Herrera, as stated, on September 12, 1816, military and civil governor 
of Texas and Galveston Island (called then San Luis or Culebras). The 
Mexican flag was raised and Peter Rousselin was appointed minister of 
finance. 

November 24, 1816, Gen. Francisco Xavier Mina arrived with three hun- 
dred men and several vessels. He was described as a swarthy giant with a 
rather brutal face, but was a distinguished Spanish soldier who had fought 
against Napoleon. Failing in an attempt to wrest the Floridas fi'om Spain, 
he sailed to help Aury. About this time Colonel Perry returned v/ith a force 
of one hundred men. Texas then had few Spanish camps with small gar- 
risons. Mina on arrival commenced to throw up a large earthwork on the 
bay shore near Fourteenth Street. Aury's camp was to the east. Perry 
was at Bolivar again. (Mina was not at Bolivar, as Yoakum says.) Mina 
had a new fine war brig called El Congresso Mexicano and several small 
sjchooners. 

Having received recruits from Guitierrez at Natchitoches the three com- 
manders sailed on April 1, 1817, with a force of nearly one thousand men, 
for the port of Soto la Marina, which they took on April 6. There was a 
disagreement between the commanders. The main force remained with 
Mina who, fortifying the town, won a number of victories in the interior, 
but was finally defeated and captured at Venadito in September and shot. 
Perry, with seventy-five men and Captain Gordon, marched several hundred 
leagues to Matagorda Bay; then determined to capture Bahia, the scene of a 
former triumph. He had invested the town when Arredondo arrived with 
heavy reinforcements, completely surrounding Perry's forces. Perry blew 
his brains out. Louis Aury returned to Galveston with a few hundred men 
to find Lafitte in his former camp, having appropriated some of Aury's 
huts and small boats. Several of Aury's guards entered Lafitte's service. 
Aury remonstrated with Lafitte, but Lafitte, lured by Aury's success as a 
privateer, refused to vacate. Lafitte had three times the force Aury had; 
so Aury, after sending an appeal to Herrera denouncing Lafitte, sailed away 
again, making a second attempt to wrest Florida from Spain, joining Sir 
Gregory McGregor. He finally married a rich widow in New Orleans and 
removed to Havana and was still alive in 1845. Two letters, it is claimed, 
are in existence written by Commodore Aury. One written on July 21. 



The Early History of Galveston. 



1817, to Manuel Herrera, the other to Collector Beverly Clew at New Orleans, 
July 28, both denouncing Lafitte. 

Perry and Aury likewise quarrelled. Perry, it seemed, refused to obey 
Aury's orders, keeping up a separate establishment during the winter of 
1816 to 1817. Colonel Hall, who was with Perry, said that Aury invited 
Perry to a conference, seized him and placed him in irons. Mina was in 
New Orleans, purchasing the Cleopatra and Neptune, and when he returned 
in March, he compelled Aury to liberate Perry. The ill feeling engendered 
then caused the split-up later which caused the death of Mina and Perry; 
for had this strong expedition remained united it might have proven more 
successful. Jose Manuel Herrera, who raised the first flag on Galveston 
Island, lived for many years and became prominent in Mexico. 

The men of Perry visited the east end of Galveston which they called 
Punta Culebra. One of Perry's men who was bathing in a lagoon on the 
island was maimed by an alligator. 

The following were officers of Aury's government: Colonel Young, com- 
mander of the guard; Colonel Myers commanded the artillery; Count de 
Reuth, the cavalry; Major Larda, the infantry; Morin, of New Orleans, 
Secretary of State. Little is known of these men who formed the first 
constituted government on Galveston Island. Aury's history has been men- 
tioned; Perry and Mina perished. Rousselin went over to Lafitte. Colonel 
Young later escaped from Mexico. Major Warren D. C. Hall lived in Gal- 
veston until he died in 1871. J. Davis Bradburn, an officer with Mina, be- 
came the Alcalde of Anahuac, who caused trouble in 1835. Sam Bangs, the 
printer of the camp, printed the first newspaper in Galveston. Of the ves- 
sels of Mina's command little likewise remains to be told. The Cleopatra 
was commanded by Captain Hoover. The Neptune by Captain Wisset. 
The Neptune later became one of Lafitte's vessels, probably captured as a 
prize, and wa^ used as a supply boat by Lafitte's colony. 

Several of the survivors of Aury's, Mina's and Perry's commands joined 
Lafitte. One by the name of Black became officer in command of the 
Pride, the last vessel commanded by Lafitte. Another of the same name 
joined Long's force. Morin, who was Secretary of State for Aury, was a 
bankrupted merchant of New Orleans. He later went to Havana with Aury. 

A complete record of Lafitte's camp on Galveston Island would make this 
history larger than intended. The author will, therefore, ask you to ac- 
cept a short resume, referring you for the minute details (as complete as 
they can be delineated at this late day), to his history and life of Lafitte 
in Louisiana and Texas. 

Lafitte probably landed between the 5th and 12th day of May, 1817, with 
five vessels. In July, wheij Aury returned, Lafitte had a full camp of 
nearly one thousand men. Lafitte was not a pirate, but a privateer, author- 
ized by three governments to seize enemies or their ships. All of these 
governments were at war with Spain. Lafitte was friendly with England 
until that country attacked the United States, when he showed himself a 
true patriot, helping the country of his adoption, although that country 
had despoiled him of all his wealth. Lafitte not only fought at the battle 
of New Orleans, but would not allow any of his crews to rob American ves- 
sels. Lafitte never was on board a single vessel that made captures, except 



The Early History of Galveston. 



when he left Galveston for Yucatan in 1820. He never wore a uniform but 
twice, and dressed as a gentleman. He controlled his men with kindness, 
fairness and firmness, conquering several mutinies. He was simply the 
head of his government, and chief advisor, having a council of officers that 
directed the expenses and finances of the camp. He treated the Indians 
with great fairness, and did not fight any battles with them. He punished 
bis officers and men who robbed plantations and American vessels, hanging 
several on the small island then east of Galveston proper. He did not wait 
for the American sloop Lynx to punish his lieutenant. Brown, as historians 
tell you, but Brown was hanging up when the Lynx arrived. Lafitte was 
visited by Milam, Colonel Gaines, Colonel Hall, Captain Graham, Randall 
Jones, the Bowie brothers. Lieutenant Kearney, and Lieutenant Mcintosh, 
all of whom spoke in high praise of him, as did Dr. and Mrs. Long. 

In 1818 a severe storm ruined Lafitte's camp, wrecking his fort and resi- 
dence, the Red House, and creating havoc in his fleet. Spain was then 
diverting her trade from the gulf, trading with Mexico via the Pacific. 
Lafitte's colony was discouraged, as few prizes came in, and the monetary 
loss from the storm was great. General L'Allemande, with one hundred 
men from a colony, came to Lafitte's camp. They had started a vineyard 
en the Trinity which failed. Lafitte gave them permission to camp, and 
they repaired the former fort of Mina at Fourteenth and A. Captain Graham 
came to investigate this camp — the Secretary of War of the United States 
had the authority to do so, and he sent Graham 

Spain was making urgent complaints, fearing L'Allemande, a noted 
French artillery general, worse than Lafitte. Graham and Lafitte agreed 
on a year's time to wind up the affairs of the settlement. Lafitte was ready 
to quit, but some of his men were not. When the Enterprise arrived the 
camp was in poor shape. Many of the men had already left, there having 
been but five prizes brought in the last six months. The Enterprise, Lieut- 
enant Kearney, was a United States vessel, probably sent to remind 
Lafitte of his former promise. There was no force used, and none 
offered, as Lafitte had seven or eight vessels, and could easily have cap- 
tured the Enterprise. His men now were induced to disband, and Lafitte 
kept the Pride and distributed the other vessels among them. All effects 
were likewise divided, and the torch applied to the huts and buildings of 
the settlement. General Long desired the arsenal and dockyard, but Lafitte 
v/as unv>?^illing for any one to continue his camp. On May 12, 1820, the Pride 
stole out of the harbor at night. Lafitte had surrounded himself with his 
best men, suspecting treachery. Some of the men on the other privateers 
believed Lafitte had a private fortune on the Pride which they wanted to 
seize. Lafitte, however, gave them the slip. The privateers went into busi- 
ness for themselves, mostly as pirates, giving Lafitte the reputation of 
pirate long after he had abandoned the enterprise on Galveston Island. 
The history of these vessels, with one exception, does not belong to Galves- 
ton, so it is included in the life and history of Lafitte. 

Lafitte died in Yucatan in 1826. He was not a hero by any means, but 
a fearless, far-sighted and gentlemanly man in his particular line of busi- 
ness. Smuggling and slave-dealing were not considered dishonorable in the 
early part of the last century; nor were the acts of the privateers as bad 



The Early History of Galveston. 



as those of the submarines today. When prominent newspapers and his- 
torians keep on printing a picture of an Italian bandit with a mustache 
and pass it on for Lafitte, who wore neither mustache nor uniform, there 
is little wonder that Lafitte, the pirate, and his treasure will live on. The 
treasure story likewise was a myth, for there was none of any amount. The 
last of Lafitte's vessels was in the harbor in 1822 and will be noticed 
Inter on. 

Lafitte's name was an adopted name, and the romance of his life has 
not so far been written, but briefly alluded to by one historian. All the 
other stories are legends, like the finding of his treasure, his acts of piracy, 
his battles Avith the Carancahua Indians, and his love affairs. A number 
CI Lafitte's men remained in Galveston and vicinity, and they will be 
described in due course. Possibly Galveston County may also have been 
the residence and burial place of one of Lafitte's relatives, a man who, 
while he disclaimed any connection, nevertheless, knew the details of his 
life, and loved to talk about them. 

Dr. James Long of Tennessee, married .Jane Wilkerson, niece of the 
adventurer. General Wilkerson. 'Influenced by this relative he formed the 
plan of an empire in Texas. As he had been surgeon in Carrol's brigade at 
New Orleans, he soon raised one hundred men at Natchez. In June, 1819, 
at Natchitoches, he was joined by two hundred men under Davenport and 
Guitierrez. A provisional government was set up, which elected General 
Long as President of the Supreme Council. A newspaper was started by 
H. Bigelow, and Colonel Gaines sent to San Louis Island to get assistance 
from Lafitte. Leaving Natchitoches, Long opened a chain of forts or trad- 
ing posts along the Trinity and Brazos. These were commanded by Dan 
Smith, David Long, Johnson, Cook and Walker. Perez, the Spanish com- 
mander, rapidly captured these posts at the Indian villages, killing Long's 
brother and capturing half of Long's forces. The remnants, united under 
Smith, stood off Perez and finally retreated to Bolivar. Long was at the 
lower Coshutta village when he heard the disastrous news. He hurried to 
Natchitoches, and crossing the Sabine, he finally reached Alexandria with 
his wife, who was left there Avith relatives. On his return to Natchitoches, 
Long was joined by Major Hall, and they went to Bolivar by way of the 
coast (Calcasieu), reaching Bolivar January 1, 1820. Lafitte now refused 
to join Long, hearing of the disaster to his forces. The August preceding 
Lafitte had promised Colonel Gaines assistance, and had actually accepted 
a commission from the Long government. Lafitte gave as excuse that he 
was winding up the affairs of the settlement, having promised Colonel Gra- 
ham he would do so. For several weeks both Hall and Long tried' to 
get Lafitte to change his mind or to leave them his camp. Lafitte liked 
Hall, but disliked Long. He gave Hall perjnission to move any buildings 
he desired to Bolivar, but asserted he would destroy the camp. General 
Long, early in February, left for New Orleans. Whilst he was gone most 
of the men deserted. Some went with the keel boats, others crossed over 
to Lafitte's camp, as they were destitute. Lafitte was then thinking of 
helping Aury. The last two boats were taken by Captain Daniel Smith 
and twenty men. (Smith was later United States Consul at Tampico.) Long 
still was absent, and Hall had but ten men left. Lafitte burned his settle- 



The Early History of Galveston. 



ment and left May 12'. These men likewise left, and Hall went back to 
Rapides, La., his home. Soon after he returned with some fresh recruits 
to find out if Long had returned to Bolivar. Long failed in New Orleans, 
because the United States, at the instigation of Spain, ordered his arrest. 
He went into hiding. Before this, however, he had interested Colonel 
Christy and General Ripley, both of whom were ready to assist clandes- 
tinely. John Austin, R. Milam and Gen. F. Trespalacios also were willing 
to join. Not finding Long, Hall had started back on his way to Louisiana, 
when he met him returning with a party at High Island. Long explained 
the failure of his mission in New Orleans, and employed Hall to take his 
place. Hall went in July, contracted yellow fever, and only returned in 
November, bringing Mrs. Long with him from Alexandria. He also secured 
a small schooner and Colonel Mordellio, General Trespalacios and a party 
of men. Young Mordellio was Trespalacios's nephew, and soon after his 
arrival at Galveston was executed by order of General Long for treason' 
In the previous month of May, Lafitte had evacuated Galveston, and Long 
had repaired L'Allemande's fort and occupied the same, also keeping up his 
fort at Bolivar. Hall quit Long's service after Mordellio's execution, not 
liking this procedure. 

The year . 1821 brought Long trouble with his men. They were im- 
patient' and had a difficulty with the Carancahuas. Long was forced by 
his men to attack them on February 20, 1821, at the Three Trees, on .the 
high shell ridge, near the bay shore on Galveston Island. Many accounts 
have been written of this battle, mostly fictitious. The battle has been 
erroneously attributed to Lafitte, who with two cannons and two hundred 
men attacked the Indians. The locality where the battle took place was 
surrounded by swamps and cannons could not have been used. 



tlbe UnOian :ffiattle. 

Long's account, given in an early issue of DeBow, states that the fight 
lasted fifteen minutes; that many Indians were killed; that Long lost one 
killed and seven wounded, two of whom died; that Long had but thirty 
nien. It is hardly probable that Long gave out this account. Colonel Hall's 
account said that Long had one hundred men, surprised the Indians, killing 
thirty and taking one woman and child prisoner. Long had seven wounded. 
Mrs. Long's account said the battle lasted a few minutes, the men firing 
three volleys. Ten Indians were killed and many wounded. One woman 
and her children were captured. Several were bitten by rattlesnakes in the 
swamps. Long had but thuee wounded. George Early received an arrow 
vvhich pierced his thigh; Dr. Long removed it, and Mrs. Long nursed the 
wounded. (The arrow head that wounded George Early was presented by 
Mrs. Long to the author's family, and is in the Texas exhibit at the Rosen- 
berg Library.) General Long returned the wounded and captives to the 
Indians and made peace with them. They never bothered his wife when 
left alone at the fort in Bolivar during the winter of 1821-1822. Yoakum 
says that Lafitte fought the tribe the year before. John Henry Brown 
gave the old story of the Indians capturing a vessel loaded with wine, were 
drunk and dancing, that Long attacked them with thirty men, killed thirty- 



10 The Early History of Galveston. 

two Indians and captured two boys, one of whom was accidentally killed. 
Long lost three killed and a number wounded. 



Extracts from a letter from General Long, June 22, 1820, at Calcasieu, 
to Gen. E. W. Ripley at Vermillion Bridge, La.: 

"Colonel Singer's boat stranded and men dispersed. Major Hall had 
brought his men from Bolivar to the Sabine, but again left for Galveston. 
I will follow him at once with thirty men. One of Lafitte's vessels brought 
in two prizes. One of them was carried off by a mutinous crew. I will 
order the capture of the privateer and send her in pursuit." 

(Author's note: Long, as President of Texas, claimed jurisdiction. The 
I;afitte vessel referred to was no longer under Lafitte, but the fleet, having 
disbanded, each lieutenant or captain of the former Lafitte fleet acted in- 
dependently. These privateers were really pirates and gave Lafitte the 
bad name which he did not deserve.) 

General Long referred to his men "beating the cannibals, and they now 
are on their good behavior." 

An interesting item in this letter was: "I cannot take out letter of 
marque as I expected." He concluded by asking for provisions. General 
Ripley referred to was Bleazer W. Ripley, who had resigned as Brigardier 
General U. S. Army in February, 1820, probably to become governor of 
Texas, for on June 23, 1820, General Long wrote him that he had resigned 
as president and that Ripley had been elected and given twenty square miles 
of land and a $25,000 a year allowance from the treasury (empty at that 
time — Author). On July 4 he again wrote to say that his men failed to get 
the privateer, but the Lynx got there before Hall's arrival (the Lynx was 
a U. S. vessel). 

General Long said the men of the Lynx robbed his camp and dug up a 
corpse to get the gold rings in its ears. He concluded by saying that he 
had but one hundred men at the camp at Galveston and "these poor scoun- 
drels were naked and without provisions. Major Hall had gone with some 
boats to Attakapas (man-eating savages' villages — Author). The canni- 
bals are now close by and friendly. Have not heard from the schooner or 
boats commanded by Cotton, Crawford, Dennen, Hays and Alexander. I 
cannot use Keels in these waters, study out some other mode of conveyance 
(Keels must mean keel boats). I have seized some of Lafitte's small 
boats. Some men of Mascatee are here who say they know where $130,000 
in specie are bvu'ied. The cannibals have burned all houses but one. I am 
building a bake house, but we have few arms, and only oysters, fish and 
game to eat. I have s-ent Lieutenant Pitts with the other prize to New Or- 
leans, but he turned out a big scoundrel." (Author's note: Pitts later lived 
in Galveston.) 

An early issue of De Bow's Journal gave many references to Long's 
actions at that time. These notices were more sensational than truthful. 
"We learn that Spain has only two hundred men in San Antonio and thirty 
at Labadie." "We also hear that Long, who is on San Louis Island in Gal- 
veston Bay, has been fighting the cannibals. General Long has written a 
friend that these Carrion Indians have already eaten two hundred Ameri- 
cans." 



The Early History of Galveston. 11 

When Long finally started his expedition, the following officers were 
with him: Dr. Allen, an Irish surgeon; Major Burns, an Englishman; 
Captain Johnson, who was one of Long's former officers and who had 
escaped from the Spaniards; Captain John Austin and Captain Williams. 
*A number of Lafitte's men joined, among them the two Black brothers of 
New Orleans, and old Blanco, who later lived in Austin's colony. Tres- 
palacios, Milam and Christy sailed for Tampico to aid in getting up an 
army to assist Long after he landed at Matagorda. Long had one schooner 
and two sloops and landed fifteen miles up the Guadaloupe. In three days 
he captured Bahia, and then was attacked by Perez with seven hundred 
troops. Some accounts said that Long fought a stubborn battle; others 
that he was deceived into surrendering, believing the attackers to be 
patriots. Long, Burns and Austin were sent to Laredo. Later Long was 
released. It was said he met death by assassination at the hands of a 
soldier hired by Trespalacios, once his ally, but whose nephew he had 
executed. Trespalacios became Governor of Texas under the patriots later. 

J. McHenry claimed to have been with Lafitte in 1817 and with Long 
in 1819, and as he tells some wonderful tales in his memoirs about Lafitte, 
and Lieutenant Campbell, it may be necessary to point out that he stated 
that he returned from Mexico to New Orleans in December, 1821, a year 
almost ahead of other prisoners. Long's prisoners were returned November 
11, 1822, by Joel R. Poinsett, U. S. Minister at Mexico. 

In the meantime, Mrs. Long had been left at the fort at Bolivar. She 
had with her a negro girl called Kiam. Also Dr. Edgar, Mrs. Allen, the 
wife of Long's surgeon, and four men to man a small cannon were left. 
These all departed after six months when Long was not heard of. Mrs. 
Long refused to go along, saying that her husband told her to stay, and 
stay she would, if he only found her bones. Soon after Long's departure 
she gave birth to a daughter, who later became the wife of Judge J. S. 
Sullivan at Richmond. The winter of 1821 to 1822 was very cold, the bay 
freezing over — a large body of salt water. It has done so but twice in 
nearly one hundred years. Mrs. Long and her negress managed to live by 
fishing, and learning of her husband's death, she went to a camp of 
smugglers on Galveston Island in 1822, and sent word to Austin's colony. 
Randall Jones and his brother came for her in a boat, and later her own 
brothers came from Natchez and took her home. Hoping to revenge her 
husband's death, she soon returned to San Felipe. She kept a tavern at 
Brazoria, and William Isbell kept bar for her. Later she opened a hotel 
h) Richmond. She stored the powder for the Austin colonists in 1834 in her 
nuthouse which was of brick. She died at Richmond in the "Eighties" at an 
advanced age. 

After Long's exit Galveston was given up in 1822 to smugglers, Indians, 
pirates and treasurer-seekers. One of Lafitte's former vessels under Roach 
made the island its headquarters. Another one had been seized by the 
Lynx after Lafitte left, in the summer of 1820. 

It hardly seems possible that Lafitte's fame should have become so 
exaggerated in such a short time, but in 1822 it was claimed a party of 
twenty treasure-seekers (the second one) under Dr. Parnell, fought the 
Indians. Parnell received a scalp wound. As late as 1857 parties hunting 



12 The Early History of Galveston. 

fcr treasure were at work down the island. They found lots of Indian 
relics, and three gold doubloons that year. These early treasure-seekers all 
fought the Indians on sight and made the otherv/ise peaceable Carancahuas 
the desperate enemies of the future colonists. 

After 1824 the Indians failed to come to Galveston. The white men on 
the mainland had driven them toward the San Antonio river. 



lEaiii? Settlement of (Balveston an^ lDictnit\>. 

The Spanish garrison at the quartel of Galvez was withdrawn previous 
to Aury's entry on Galveston Island — a force had occasionally occupied 
the stockade since 1805. Whilst Lafitte was at Galveston the mainland re- 
ceived many settlers, most of whom went to Brazoria. Beguin settled at 
Highland Bayou, and Di-. Bostwick on the lower Trinity. In 1822 a steady 
flow of immigration set in. The schooner Revenge, Captain Shires, brought 
ninety emigrants, who settled at Red Bar, Bolivar, Cedar Bas'^ou, and close 
to the bay shore. Amongst these were the families of Pettus, Choate, Wil- 
liamson and Smith. 

Dr. Johnson Hunter and his family, having been wrecked on Galveston 
Island, settled at Morgan's Point. The Cokes had a summer camp at Red 
Bluff, and there were Carancahuas at Lynchburg and on the lower Trinity, 
but these Indians at no time molested the settlers. With the increasing 
influx of whites they removed westward in 1823. 

The schooner Only Son made regular trips, bringing most of her emi- 
j:- rants to Brazoria and Matagorda. Captain Ellison induced Sam M. Wil- 
liams, the future merchant prince of Galveston; the "Helms of Kentucky; 
the Clares, Brays (who settled Brays Bayou near Houston), the Peytons 
and Greenups (relatives of Daniel Boone), to cast their fortunes on the 
gulf coast. These people were the first to have trouble with the western 
Carancahua tribes, as related later by Horatio Chriesman. 

The "Lively" had also brought settlers late in 1821 to Galveston Bay 
and to Brazoria, amongst them many of the settlers of the Austin colony. 
On her second trip she landed some families from Illinois at Galveston, 
several of whom settled on the island. Only the name of the Collins family 
can be recalled, and they were drowned in the storni of 1829 near Woolam's 
Lake, within the present city limits. The Lively was wrecked, on her 
second trip, near San Louis Pass. A family by the name of Morton was 
likewise wrecked and lived on the island for some time. The records of 
Lewis, in the Bryan papers, stated that the Brazoria colonists came to the 
assistance of the Mortons when wrecked and two of the rescuers lost their 
lives in the surf. 

Thoriias Duke stated that the first attempt to collect taxes from the 
early colonists was made in 1825. They had been promised free entry of 
all their goods, but now custom guards were placed on Galveston Island 
and at Velasco. There was more or less trouble now with these tax col- 
lectors. In 1830 they seized the schooner Canon at Galveston. A custom 
house had been built of logs, situated at the foot of Twelfth Street. George 



The Early History of Galveston. 13 

Fisher, a Servian by birth, but a naturalized Mexican, was appointed col- 
lector, because he could speak good English. There was considerable busi- 
ness through this cuGtom house and so much friction v.'ith the colonists 
that General Teran, the Mexican Governor of Texas, made a special trip 
to Galveston to adjust matters. In 1828, Dr. Geo. M. Patrick and John H. 
Moore landed on Galveston Island and camped there. Patrick died in 
Grimes County sixty-two years later, and Moore became the future promi- 
nent colonist and fighter. D. Gregg, one of the party, settled on the 
mainland and lived off and on in Galveston from 1833 to 1870, when he 
died there. In 1831, D. G. Burnet's schooner foundered at Bolivar with the 
first steam sawmill on board. In 1832, Solomon Parr settled at Bolivar. 
Historians tell you that Galveston Island was a waste place after Lafitte 
left, until the city was -incorporated in 1839. There was as much truth in 
this statement as the one that in 1836 Galveston had but one house. George 
Fisher was reappointed collector in 1833 (he later lived in Galveston). The 
octivities of the Texas Land and Galveston Bay Company commenced in 
1834, and Jacob de Cordova, of Jamaica, was appointed local agent at Gal- 
veston to sell the scrip and locate the emigrants. He kept a store which 
sold tobacco, stationery and liquors (In later years he organized the first 
ledge of Odd Fellows in Texas, and surveyed the future city of Waco.) 
Solomon Parr opened a- branch store, and the Mussina brothers kept a 
stock of general merchandise. They came from New Orleans and cared 
for their widowed mother. Sam Mussina was in Galveston at the end of 
last century and attended meetings of the local Historical Society. The 
schooner Sabine foundered on the beach down the island Avith a number 
of colonists on board, who made temporary homes there; amongst them 
R. J. Kleberg and his family. 

The colonists were very dissatisfied and in anticipation of trouble had 
gotten the Harris brothers to bring a lot of gunpowder from New Orleans. 
, As there were but two ports of entry, and as it was against the law to bring 
in large quantities of the powder, the colonists smuggled it in. 

The Ohio had a full cargo of powder, which she managed to land at 
Eagle Grove on the bay shore. From thence it was gradually removed to 
Richmond, and stored in Mrs. Long's brick house. Captain Antonio Tenorio 
with forty men had occupied the island and formed a camp. His orders 
were to collect the taxes and prevent smuggling. Tenorio found the colon- 
ists were hostile, and concluded to take his force to Anahuac, where there 
was already a small garrison and fort. He informed his superiors that he 
would have to be supplied with cavalry and boats as the island was over 
thirty miles long; that- the inhabitants were opposed to paying taxes, and 
tiiat one of his men had been wounded in a brawl, and his post messenger 
poisoned by the captain of the Ojulla. (The "Ohio," Harris brothers' ves- 
sel.) The Dart, chartered by J. W. Russell of Velasco, was bought by Mon- 
roe Edwards, who used her as a slaver. He had a camp at Edward's Point 
on Galveston Bay where he kept his negroes. He owned saloons and gam- 
bling houses at Galveston and Anahuac. The steamer Laura, which was 
tiie first steamer to trade in the vicinity of Galveston, had assisted at the 
capture of the Mexican revenue cutter Correo. J. W. Russell and a com- 
pany of men on board of the schooner San Felipe, aided by the Laura, 



14 The Eay^ly History of Galveston. 

captured the Correo in the harbor. Geo. W. Scott took the vessel and her 
captain, Thompson, an Englishman, to New Orleans, claiming the vessel 
Avas a pirate, having seized Americans and their goods. Scott later lived in 
Galveston; he became a captain and fought at San Jacinto. Austin, who 
was trying to get a grant of Galveston Island, had settled some families 
down the island, so certain was he of obtaining the same. However, about 
this time, he was turned down, and Seguin secured the grant. 

In 1835 emigrants came pouring in despite the unsettled affairs with 
Mexico. The land agents did an enormous business, selling worthless scrip. 
The settlement had quite an importance. Captain Spillman, of the "Martha," 
had his headquarters here; the Bordens kept cattle down the island, and 
the first preacher and doctor arrived, Rev. Aug. Engel, and Dr. Bostwick, of 
Anahuac. Wm. B. Scates had erected a two-story building for Monroe 
Edwards; and Alex Edgar, J. Milldin, Joe Thompson, and others, had come 
to stay. 

The Swartwouts, belonging to the family of Samuel Swartwout of New 
York, had opened an agency to ship lumber. Samuel had been in Texas 
in 1806 connected with Burr's invasion. His son was collector of the port 
at New York and the family had established a cotton plantation and saw- 
mills at Swartwout, on the Trinity River. They were great friends of Texas, 
owned their own vessels, and provided funds for the first vessel of the navy, 
the one hundred and twenty-five ton clipper Invincible of Baltimore. The 
Swartwouts were the first to ship lumber from Galveston, and provided 
material for its first wharf, built by Amasa Turner. When they heard of 
the victory at San Jacinto they entertained the Texas commissioners, Lewis 
and Morton, with a big banquet at the New York hotel. General Mason 
likewise at this time was in Galveston superintending the business of the 
Texas Land and Galveston Bay Co., being the agent for some rich New 
Yorkers. This prosperity came to a sudden end. 

In September, 1835, a gale blew from the north, and turned to southeast 
on the second day; Galveston was overflowed by salt water, the waves, 
forced by the wind, washing away all houses and stores except the Mexican 
custom house, a small, strong building on the high ridge at Saccarap on 
Twelfth and Avenue A. The citizens, however, rebuilt their homes, most 
of which were very cheap, either flimsy sheds or huts, there being but two 
or three two-story houses. 

War had now broken out with Mexico and the Texas navy was put in 
commission. The Liberty was bought by General Mason. She was the old 
schooner, Wm. Robbins, of sixty tons, and carried four small guns and was 
commanded by William Brown. The Invincible carried two 18-pounders and 
smaller guns, and was commanded by Capt. Jere Brown. The Independ- 
ence, Captain Hawkins, and the Brutus, Captain Hurd, were bought by Mc- 
Kinney and Williams of Velasco. 

The last Mexican troops on the island were Lieutenant Duran with nine 
men, who carried fifty guns and 150 flint-locks for the garrison at Anahuac. 
Soon after the colonists captured this place, the forerunner of the war to 
come. In December, 1835, Galveston was declared a port of entry by the 
Republic, the Declaration of Independence being signed on December 



The Early History of Galveston. 15 

20th. Edmund Quirk signed this document, as did Burnet and several others 
who later located in Galveston. 

The first prize brought in by the navy in December was the Montezuma, 
commanded by the same Captain Thompson, who had caused trouble before 
with the Correo. He had been released and joined the Mexican navy again. 
He now joined the Texas navy and later ran a trading vessel out of Galves- 
ton. A large steamer, the Yellow Stone, was chartered by planters, who 
wanted to send their cotton to New Orleans before hostilities commenced. 
The Cayuga, a steamer; the Laura, a small steamer, the schooners Flash, 
Ohio and Pennsylvania were already in the local trade, and all were com- 
mandered by the Republic. The Yellow Stone was seized by Sam Houston 
at Groce's Landing. The Ohio had carried the force that attacked Anahuac. 
The privateers, Tom Toby, Captain Hoyt, and the Terrible, Capt. J. M. Allen 
(Galveston's future first mayor), were put in commission by New Orleans 
firms. 



S^nopete of JEvents in X836» 

Capture of the schooner Pocket by navy. 

Schooners Express and Columbus chartered to run to New Orleans. 
April 10, arrival of Cayuga with refugees. April 11, Laura arrived with 
refugees. The Ohio arrived with refugees and cotton on April 13. April 
15 the Flash came in with refugees from Velasco and two brass guns made 
in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the foundry of Greenwood & Webb. 

April 15, the small cannons, "Twin Sisters," sent to Harrisburg on the 
Flash. On the 19th the Cayuga came in with F. C. Gray of Harrisburg and 
the government printing press, and refugees, amongst others the family of 
Capt. Joe Atkins of San Jacinto. April 20, brig Durango, Capt Wm. Chase, 
arrived from Matagorda with many refugees; Capt. W. F. Baker, and R. J. 
Kleberg and their families on board. April 20, the sloop Sarah Lee, from 
New Orleans, arrived with Colonel Graham, Major Leon Dyer and thirty 
volunteers, fully equipped. April 21, a naval depot was organized. April 
-23, W. D. C. Hall appointed acting Minister of War. Colonel Graham and 
volunteers sent to front. April 25, martial law declared. April 26, news 
arrived from San Jacinto battlefield. April 28, Cayuga ordered to protect 
Fort Travis with her guns. April 30, Cabinet left for battlefield. May 5, Cab- 
inet returned with Santa Anna. May 10, Cabinet left with Santa Anna for 
Velasco. 



JEvcnts in 1836. 



After the Cabinet left for Velasco, the prisoners remained in the camp 
at Fort Travis until August, when they were sent up the Trinity river to the 
Hardin camp. Secretary Potter remained behind to superintend construc- 
tion of the navy yard. In September, 1836, the Invincible was sent to New 
York for repairs. She would have been sold, for expenses incurred, but for 
the help given by the Swartwout family. The Liberty was sold to defray 
her expenses for repair work. 



16 The Early History of Galveston. 

December 10, 1836, Congress granted Menard the east end of Galveston 
Island. Menard having previously secured J. N. Seguin's grant from Alcalde 
Woods at Liberty in 1834. Fifteen acres were reserved in the cast end for 
government purposes, and one block on Strand, between Twenty-third and 
Twenty-fourth for a custom house. 

The year 1836 opened sadly for Galveston. Everywhere evidences of the 
great storm of September, 1835, were scattered. There was likewise the 
shadow of approaching invasion darkening the hopes of the people, for 
Mexico was mobilizing its army and navy. Scores of men, busily at work, 
Avere erecting tents, shelters, sheds and houses in that part of the east end 
of the island known as Saccarap; others were engaged in going over the 
wreckage of vessels along the gulf and beach shores, separating and assort- 
ing old sails, tarpaulins, planks, cabins, copper sheathiiig and such other 
materials useful in erecting places for occupancy. It had previously been 
a source for wonder to historians that an island which offered such a safe 
and excellent anchorage should have been overlooked by the astute Span- 
iards. The Spaniards on several previous dates had established a custom 
house, but failed to colonize, or provide a quartel or garrison for the follow- 
ing reasons: 

(1) Fear of Indian attack. (2) Fear of storms. (3). The prevalence 
of snakes. (4) The absence of water and building materials. That the 
fear of Indians was well grounded was explained by the history of the 
coastal tribe of Indians, the Carancahuas, whose cruel and warlike habits 
made the existence of early colonists on the rivers and bays of the gulf 
miserable. They undoubtedly were cannibals. They devoured the flesh of 
their prisoners in the belief that they and their children would remain strong 
and brave as a result. Certain African tribes to this day eat the meat of 
lions from the same motive. The last feast of the barbecued human flesh 
took place on. Galveston Island after the great storm of 1810, when some 
shipwrecked sailors wounded several unarmed Indians. The Indians returned 
in force, and after a fight captured the castaways (who were Mexicans or 
Negroes) on the beach. They were tortured and killed and their flesh 
roasted on frames over a fire. A young girl was likewise captured. She 
became a member of the tribe and was seen by the first white settlers on 
the Trinity at a later period. 

:1- * * 

The Indians' accounts of early storms are very accurate. The storm of 
1810 caught members of the tribe encamped on a shell ridge down the 
island. They were swept away and drowned. The Indians said the waters 
rose to the height of four men. The shell ridge was about 12 feet high. 
The wind was so strong that not a man could stand against it. The river 
water of the Trinity at their camp thirty miles from the bay had become 
salty. Storms were very frequent in the first quarter of the nineteenth 
century. An old number of DeBow's .Journal published a long list of gulf 
storms that swept Louisiaiia. Texas and 'Mexico. 

* * * 

Snakes were so numerous on the islands that the Indians beat the path 



The Early Histoiy of Galveston. 17 

before them with long sticks. The shell ridge was free from snakes, as 
snakes do not like to crawl oyer rough substances. The Indians and early 
settlers would fire the grass in a circle around their camping place, claim- 
ing that the snakes would not cross over freshly-scorched vegetation. Hair 
ropes were likewise used for the same purpose. The sand hills and 
wreckage on the beach front formed the winter quarters for the snakes. 
In summer they dwelt in the marshes and undergrowth, swimming on the 
bayous and ponds in their search for foorl. such a? small fisii, toads, frogs 
pnd mosquitoes. The snakes could foretell coming storms, and hundreds 
could be seen crawling toward the high sand dunes for shelter. The Indians 
were very much afraid of the snakes, not alone on account of their fatal 
bite, but biecause they believed that evil spirits inhabited their bodies. The 
snakes having no huinan enemies propagated rapidly, and but for the sea- 
gulls and buzzards that carried off the young would have been still more 
numerous. Fresh water on the island formed in ponds and lakes. There 
vv-ere a large number. A large pond on Twenty-fifth and Avenue N was 
still in existence in 1866! Clear Lake, down the island, and the bayous held 
iresh water, between storm periods; after storms all the ponds became 
salty. Two springs were running back of the sand hills running east and 
west. These springs were in existence during the war, but the writer has 
failed to locate them. There were no springs on the island during the year 
1836 or during Lafitte's occupancy. 

^ :!: :}; 

Outside of logs, driftwood and wreckage, cast up by the sea, there was 
no material for man to build with. There was no clay, timber or stone. 
In later years brick were made from some clay found down the island, but 
whilst they were used, they were so soft as to break easily. The old county 
jail v/as built from this brick, and the prisoners dug through the wall with 
their tableware. 

The old settlers having to contend with snakes, storms, lack of drinka- 
ble water, likewise lived in dread of invasion, first by Indians, and later by 
INIexicans. 

For these reasons Galveston island had but few permanent settlers 
after General Long left the island. A number of emigrants landed in 1823; 
A few remained, and these were wiped out by the storm of 1829. 

* * * 

Custom houses were established on the island by Mexico in 1825; and 
again in 1830, when a small colony of traders and squatters, also many 
fugitives from justice in the States, lived in that section of the city known 
later as Saccarap. In September, 1835, Saccarap- district, situated between 
Thirteenth and Seventh Streets, and between Strand- and Avenue J, con- 
tained the bulk of the population of the island; perhaps three hundred 
people in all. There were a number of stores or rather sheds on pilings 
which carried merchandise of all kinds. The various bay and river com- 
ir.unities had increased in size, and quite a brisk trade was- established by 
the six or seven merchants located here. There were three two-story 
buildings at that time. One was a boarding house, the tw^o others were 
combination saloons, billiard rooms and gambling houses. One was owned 



18 The Ea7iy History of Galveston. 



hy Monroe Edwards, a notorious character. The storm of September, 1835, 
caused no loss of life like that of 1829, but destroyed nearly all the build- 
ings and stocks of merchandise. The Mexican custom house erected in 
1830, a strong, small log building on piles, was not destroyed. A large 
brig then in the harbor was wrecked and driven ashore on Strand between 
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets. The inhabitants saved themselves by 
fleeing on board of this vessel and two smaller ones which grounded on the 
bay shore. 

* * * 

The latter part of 1835 was taken up by reconstructing winter quarters 
for such of the inhabitants as chose to remain. 

* * * 

Wreckage on the beach from vessels that had stranded in past years 
(when the commerce between Spain and her Mexican colony was very large) 
lay on the east and south gulf shores in vast piles; and was easily trans- 
formed into comfortable huts and shelters. Again Galveston commenced to 
grow. In spite of the serious Mexican situation, many emigrants arrived, 
mostly adventurous young men. 

* * * 

The settlements at the various bay points were growing rapidly. Hardly 
a day passed that a schooner did not enter the bay with lumber or supplies 
from New Orleans and Baltimore. Historians of Galveston Island have 
stated that after Laiitte the island had returned to a primitive condition; 
also that Galveston only became a settlement after its incorporation in 1839. 
These statements were not correct, as this narrative proves. Historian 
John Henry Brown states that early in 1836 Galveston had but one house. 
Perhaps he should have stated, or meant to say, one decent house (a new 
two-story boarding house). He failed to state that the recent storm was 
the cause of this paucity of buildings. He also stated that President Burnet 
removed the seat of government to Velasco on account of the poor housing 
accommodations. Such was not the case. Burnet was well aware of the 
fact that Velasco had Jikewise suffered from the storm and had but few 
bouses. He himself and his sick family occupied a miserable hut at Velasco, 
and the government and prisoners were moved because the island was 
subject to attack by both naval and land forces of the enemy, and retreat 
could easily be cut off. 

* * * 

Drinking and gambling places, the forerunners of all new frontier towns 
and mining camps, sprang up with a mushroom city of tents, shacks, sheds 
and stores. A new two-story building was erected for a boarding house, the 
lumber being brought from New Orelsns. 

* * * 

Fugitives from justice brought their illicit spoils here and disposed of 
them to needy colonists. Despite the arrival of many bad men, crime was 
vinknown on the island. "Judge Lynch" accomplished more in new settle- 
ments than the regular courts of law in older communities. 

* * * 

In February, 1836, refugees commenced to arrive from neighboring set- 
tlements. The wives, children and household slaves of prominent colonists 



The Early History of Galveston. 19 

were the first to arrive, followed the next month by many more. By April 
five hundred had arrived from Matagorda, Copano, the Colorado, Brazos and 
Trinity colonies and the Galveston Bay communities. These were housed 
in camps situated on Eighteenth and Nineteenth and J, extending to Avenue 
K. Some tents arrived on April 15 from New Orleans; but huts were quickly 
run up, made of driftwood or wreckage from the gulf front. The colored 
people were camped to the east toward the fort 

* * * 

Many huts were built of wire grass, matted in the mud of the bay 
shore. This, when spaded up in square pieces and dried, made excellent 
sod huts. However, as it rained for two weeks the sod huts melted away. 
Accommodations became worse each day, and scarcer. The women and 
children were housed in the few available tents, and the men erected shel- 
ters from the drift wood on the beach. There were no nails, so double 
lines of poles were driven into the ground for each wall. The lines were 
far enough apart to admit trimmed logs of drift wood to be placed within 
them, one log being placed above the other to the required height. The line 
of poles on the outside and the inside line kept the logs in position, and 
made a strong wall. Many plastered the huts on the outside with mud, 
giving them the name of daub (Mexican adobe). For roofs old sails, tar- 
paulins, pieces of old sheet metal from wrecks, drift wood and thatches 
of marsh grass were used. The huts leaked badly, but the cold, shivering 
refugees considered them palaces. President Burnet, his wife and two 
children, occupied one of those huts a little later. Mrs. Burnet had to do 
her own work, and nursed a sick child, which died soon after. 

Let me describe how these poor people lived and suffered. The floor of 
the hut was sloppy with deep, wet mud. In one corner was a pallet made 
of drift wood covered with old, damp sacks, and a blanket; on this rested 
the sick child. Another larger "shake down" was occupied by the president, 
his wife and the other child. The furniture consisted of three boxes con- 
taining the family's belongings. The boxes were used as seats, and an 
empty barrel with the bottom up was the table A few pots and pans com- 
pleted the outfit In the morning imagine the President of the Republic 
getting up to make a fire, striking his flint with a steel for several minutes 
and incidentally bis knuckles. He found the material he had reserved for 
the purpose too damp to catch the spark. He had to get something inflam- 
mable and dry from one of the boxes, sprinkle it with gun powder and 
finally got a blaze. Care had now to be taken to carry the flame to the 
pile of wood outside. This was drift wood placed in the hot ashes of the 
yesterday's fire to dry it, and to keep it so, covered up with a piece of 
old metal sheathing. The fire place was a hole in the ground, lined with 
oyster shells. The camp contained but few candles and little oil, brought 
from New Orleans and bringing fancy prices. The president was very poor, 
the Mexicans having destroyed his residence. Every bit of fat in the camp 
was saved to make soap, candles and drip. 

Drip was the oily liquid left behind after the candles were made. Un- 
raveled pieces of rope were repeatedly dipped into the melted fat, the 
stearine adhering to the wick thus made. The remaining fat was more 
liquid and placed in a drip cup. A piece of rope was floated in the drip 



20 The Early History of Galveston. 



cup by being passed through a cork or piece of wood. This kept the wick 
from being submerged, and permitting combustion. The lamp was called a 
"dip" or drip lamp. Soap was made with lye obtained by soaking wood 
ashes. 

To return to the fire-making. You that have dry materials and matches, 
s^nd in impatience resort to the use of kerosene, imagine again the patience 
and skill required to kindle a fire with the primitive spark and damp or 
wet wood. At the expiration possibly of an hour the fire was hot enough 
to boil water. As the cooking of the early colonists was often done on the 
outside, the kettle was provided with a metal rest, or frame. Now for the 
water: the few who had ship casks caught a supply with old sails. The 
majority drank water obtained from shallow holes on the bay shore. This 
water was very brackish and had to be boiled. The fresh water ponds of 
the settlement had become salty, the 1835 storm causing an overflow. The 
sick child obtained a gruel made of coarse flour and water. Fresh milk 
was out of question; the few cattle brought by fleeing colonists were 
slaughtered for food. Condensed milk was not in the thought of Gail Borden, 
who was with the army seventy-five or 100 miles away from the island, 
where he later perfected his process. Food was fairly plentiful. The cap- 
tured Mexican vessels Montezuma and Pacheo (Pocket) contained supplies 
of beans, corned beef, ship's biscuits and rum. Beef, game, fish and oys- 
ters were plentiful, and the fleeing refugees had gathered a few hasty 
stores. However, there were no luxuries or medicines, until after the battle 
of San Jacinto. Calico was selling for 75 cents per yard,, and many of the 
Women and children wore skirts of dressed deer skin, obtained from the 
friendly Coshutta and Toncawa tribes. Added to the discomfort caused bj' 
daily rain, the mosquitoes became very troublesome. The proximity oi 
bayous and marshes formed breeding places for millions. Large fires had 
to be kept up, to each of which was added a little ship's tar to increase 
the smoke. The Flash, a small armed cruiser or schooner commanded by 
Luke Falvel, had brought a number of refugees from Velasco about the 
middle of April. She also brought two small brass cannons called the 
"Twin Sisters." These cannons were made in Cincinnati, Ohio, by friends 
of the Texas patriots and shipped to New Orleans, from thence to Velasco. 
At Velasco a certain Col. A. Houston placed them on the Flash, fearing 
they would be captured by the advancing Mexicans. Captain Falvel, at 
Galveston, did not know what to do with the cannons. There was no officer 
in Galveston then, and no military camp as yet. The Ohio, a small sloop 
belonging to the Harris Bros., of Harrisburg, was in the bay, and on her 
return the cannons went to Harrisburg, where it was known the govern- 
ment had been last. Lieut. Aaron Burns commanded the Ohio. (Both 
Falvel and Burns lived in Galveston and were buried there.) Certain his- 
torians describe that these guns went from Velasco overland to the army. 
Another story says Burnet ordered the guns to be sent from Galveston to 
Harrisburg. 

Possibly the victory of San Jacinto was won by Captain Falvel's action, 
for there was no government officer here on their arrival, and those here 
knew nothing of the whereabouts of either the army or the government. 
The Flash was owned by private parties in New Orleans and did not 



The Early History of Galveston. 21 

belong to the Texas navy, as is frequently stated. She was chartered after 
the battle by the Republic to carry provisions, etc., but the colonists who 
sent their wives and slaves to Galveston had sent for the vessel to take 
their families away. On April 17, Captain Falvel agreed with Monroe Ed- 
wards to remove his slaves from the mainland to Galveston Island. Edwards 
Lad a tmall sloop in the harbor, but she had lost her masts in the storm 
cf 1835. Falvel proceeded to Edward's Point, where the negro camp of 
Edwards was placed and where he attempted to form a city. Edwards 
was a slaver, and receiver of stolen slaves. He had accumulated about 
ninety negroes, mostly children, which had been brought from Cuba. Falvel 
took them on board. When he learned that the Cabinet had fled from Har- 
risburg to Morgan's Point, he went there and took on board the follow- 
ing: Mrs. Burnet and her two children; Bailie Hardeman, wife and two 
children; Colonel Thomas, Attorney General, and Colonel Potter of the 
navy. Altogether on board were seventy whites and ninety negroes. The 
Flash gathered up all the whites on the bay shores and in the morning of 
the 18th was joined by Buriiet and a few companions. The Mexican out- 
posts fired on the Flash before she set sail. On the evening of April the 
18tli the Flash arrived and the passengers disembarked. Galveston then 
became the capital of the State the first time. 

The negroes were placed on tlie dismantled sloop Dart, belonging to 
Edwards. 

* * * 

On the island were a number of colonists who had not been able to 
reach the army. When they learned the gravity of the situation from 
Burnet they immediately organized, elected as commander a settler, Col. 
Jas. Morgan, and commenced drilling and throwing up a fort. The negroes 
on the island were forced to make earthworks in the extreme east end at 
the Point. Colonel Morgan had sixty well armed men. In the meantime 
the navy had assembled in the harbor and brought in the two prizes men- 
tioned. The navy consisted of the Invincible, the Independence and the 
Brutus. Later the Libertj^ a small vessel, arrived, the gift of General T. J. 
Mason. 

Thanks to the generosity of the friends of Texas, the navy was in good 
shape. Among the colonists on the island who was unable to join the 
army was a neighbor of Colonel Hall in Brazoria County. He had brought 
some of Colonel Hall's slaves and erected a number of huts. One of 
these, located on the bay shore near Eleventh or Twelfth streets, was 
offered to the President, because his child was ill. 

The Cayuga was a small river steamer, chartered by the Harris Bros. 
She was the first steamer on Galveston Bay (1834). Early in 1836 she was 
commandered by the Republic, as was the Yellow Stone a few days 
before San Jacinto, by Sam Houston, at Groce's Landing. The Ohio had 
been in the bay trade for some time. She carried the Twin Sisters to 
Harrisburg, and previously had carried the colonists in 1835 that attacked 
Anahuac. "She belonged to the Harris Bros. The Cayuga came into Gal- 
veston on the 20th bringing news of the advancing Mexican army, having 
on board a few families, one of which was Capt. Joe Atkins, whose home 
was at San Jacinto. On the 20th likewise arrived a small sloop called the 



22 The Early History of Galveston. 

Sarah Carter, or Captain Lee (Lee being the captain). She brought Colonel 
Dyer of New Orleans, his friend Colonel Graham, of New Orleans, and 
thirty militiamen of the State of Loviisiana. As most of this narrative is 
derived from the writer's father, his description of the island and events 
cC 1836 may prove interesting. 

* * * 

Early in 1835, Colonel Dyer left Baltimore to establish the Southern 
branch at New Orleans of the first packing house in the United States, 
the firm of J. M. Dyer and Son. In New Orleans, Governor White prevailed 
on Leon Dyer to accept the quartermaster office for the militia with the 
rank of colonel. Col. Leon Dyer fitted out the companies of Greys which 
assisted in the capture of the Alamo. Colonel Dyer intended to accompany 
these troops, but luckily for him at that time business matters intervened. 
Leon Dyer had met Sam Houston. In March, 1836, Sam Houston wrote 
Dyer asking him to help the Texas patriots. Dyer Interested his friend, 
Thos. Jefferson Green, and they started to mobilize a regiment. Receiving 
a still more urgent appeal from Houston, Dyer immediately equipped a 
small company at his own expense. He selected thirty men from the 
Louisiana militia — picked men, unlike the rabble that Green brought out 
later on the Ocean. On April the 10th he placed these men on the Lee. 
The sloop was old and small and only a coasting vessel, but the only 
available one at that time. As it was, the men were so crowded that they 
took turns in turning-in to sleep. A few volunteers were given free passage 
by Col. Leon Dyer, who had chartered the sloop. Arriving near Galveston 
a norther blew them into the gulf out of their course. On April 19 the 
sloop tried to enter the West Pass, but the water was too shallow. On 
the 20th, in the afternoon, they anchored in Galveston Bay. 

* * * 

In 1836 the appearance of the island from the gulf was not imposing. 
It looked like a sand bank, excepting the large sand dunes which protected 
the island from the inroads of the tides. An oak tree, which grew in the 
center of what had been the smaller island, enabled mariners to steer 
for the entrance into the harbor. The pass through which Lafitte had 
entered the harbor and which separated the islands had filled in from the 
bay side and now was a deep lagoon over one-fourth mile extending east 
of First Street half way across the island. Outside of high marsh grass, a 
fow wild poinsettas (called then fire-plants), a few mesquite bushes anCI 
a large number of small salt cedar brakes, as well as brakes of wild black- 
berry, there was no other vegetation. The settlement extended from about 
Eighteenth Street east, the habitations being on two small ridges. The 
first ridge ran along Strand and Mechanic, east of Fourteenth Street, and 
was occupied by a few sheds made of lumber and raised on piles, which 
were used as stores and sales rooms. A small, two-story house, built by 
Monroe Edwards, the gambler-slaver, had a bar, billiard hall, gambling 
and dance hall below, and rooms above. This was the only boarding house. 
A number of huts extended east to the low ground. The second ridge 
commenced at a bayou which extended from Eighteenth Street westward 
and southward. The ridge ran on what is now Broadway and extended to 
about Third Street. On this ridge the camps and tents of the refugee 



The Early History of Galveston. 23 

women and children were placed, and between them and the fort were 
the camps of the household slaves of the colonists numbering several hun- 
dred. Edwards kept his slaves on the Dart moored near the bay shore. He 
had about one hundred all told. The fort, called later Fort Travis by Presi- 
dent Burnet, was on a sandbank in the extreme east end. The fort con- 
sisted of an octagon-shaped earthwork (or sand work); a huge ditch was 
dug and the sand piled on the inner margin; a number of huts for the 
troops were within the embankment. The fort at first had no guns. 

^ ^ ^ 

Along the bay shore were the wrecks of two vessels. One lay out 
several hundred feet from Fourteenth Street and was used as a wharf, 
vessels tying on to it. Near this wreck was a submerged causeway of 
oyster shells and a few worm-eaten piles. Tradition had it that this was 
the site of Lafitte's navy yard. At the foot of Twelfth Street lay a large 
dismantled brig which had hastily been repaired and painted. This was 
Galveston's first hotel. It was run by a Frenchman called Francois, from 
New Orleans, who had converted the cabin into a dining room, and had a 
few private cabins and a number of sleeping bunks fitted up with sailor's 
hammocks. There was no bedding, patrons furnishing their own blankets, 
and candles were extra. It is needless to say that Francois' hotel was 
filled and that he obtained $5 specie per day for his best accommodations. 
A Criolla woman was his cook, and his table board was remarkably good, 
as beef, fish, oysters and deer meat, as well as wild fowl, were plentiful. 

* * * 

Colonel Dyer remained on the sloop for several days, when Hall's 
negroes built him a hut, not far from the hotel, where he took his meals. 
He brought ashore some clothing and underwear, several blankets and a 
few luxuries and medicines. Colonel Graham and his twenty-nine or thirty 
men were sent on the Laura up Buffalo Bayou to join the army. The 
exact location of the army was not known. On April 23 the President 
wrote Secretary of War Rusk, referring to Galveston, "this point must be 
kept." He likewise suggested the advisability of the army falling back 
on Galveston Island, provided he (Rusk) thought the army not strong 
enough to give battle. Probably Burnet thought the last stand could be 
made at Galveston more advantageously, as the guns of the war vessels 
could assist, the army having no artillery except the two small brass pieces 
called the Twin Sisters. In the same letter forwarded by the Laura he 
mentioned: "We send you twenty-nine volunteers under command of Cap- 
tain Graham. These men arrived on Thursday from New Orleans." Burnet 
referred to Colonel Graham, who had been selected as captain of the 
companj^ by Colonel Dyer on account of his fitness for service. 

Although long past middle age, Colonel Graham had a history, for he 
v.'as the same Colonel Graham who, when a young man, visited Galveston • 
in 1818. At that time he made a land journey from Vermillion Bridge, La., 
to inquire into the status of the camps of Lafitte, and General Allemande, 
and his report to General Ebenezer Ripley, U. S. Army commander on 
the border, is on record. 

* * * 

On April 21 President Burnet authorized R. Potter to establish a liaval 



24 The Early History of Galveston. 

depot at Galveston. On April 23 President Burnet appointed Col. Warren 
D. C. Hall Acting Secretary of War. in the absence of Rusk at the front. 
Hall had been sent on a mission, and unable to find the army had arrived 
in Galveston on the 22nd. On April 21 the Cayuga, with Potter on board, 
was seat to locate the army which was reported on Buffalo Bayou. On the 
i'3rd the Laura, Avith Hardeman on board, was sent on the same mission. 
Both vessels had provisions for the army, disproving the charges made 
that Burnet and the Cabinet neglected the army. On the 24th martial law 
was declared and all men called to arms. Those refusing were deported. 
Colonel Dyer meanwhile was laying off a camp for the regiment form- 
ing at New Orleans. The camp was located on Eighth and the bay shore. 
Colonel Hall shared the hut with Colonel Dyer. This hut was close to the 
one occupied by President Burnet, who was greatly worried. His child 
was critically ill, and he believed the army had retired toward the Sabine, 
iRaving the six hundred women and children in his care, when he had but 
one hundred and fifty men to guard them. Several times there were false 
alarms of Mexican attacks. The Liberty having arrived, she was moored 
j-t the foot of Eighth Street so that she could protect the fort. She carried 
four guns. The other three vessels were anchored in the bay to protect 
the harbor entrance. 

Work on the fort was carried on night and day. On the evening of 
the 26th the sound of cannon-fire from the bay aroused great alarm. 
Everybody fled into the fort. It was learned, however, that the gvms had 
been fired by Captain Jerry Brown of the Invincible, who had picked up 
a boat with men from San Jacinto, and on learning of the victory he fired 
IV salute. General Rusk had written a letter to President Burnet describ- 
ing the victory, and asking him to visit the battlefield at once. This letter 
was given to Capt. B. C. Franklin to deliver, who started out with Captain 
Calder and two men. The boat leaked, and it took them over two days to make 
the trip. They had but little to eat, and when picked up by Captain 
Brown were very weak. Brown transferred the men to the flagship Inde- 
pendence. Captain Hawkins also fired a salute and kept the men all night. 
Next morning Franklin delivered the letter to the President. The next 
flay (April 28) the President ordered the Cayuga to anchor east of the 
fort to protect the same during his absence. The Yellow Stone having 
arrived, it took two days to dry enough wood so that she could run to 
the battlefield. On April 30, Burnet went to the camp which had been 
moved seven miles above, for sanitary reasons. Whilst he was gone the 
Cayuga was compelled to shift her position on account of the weather. Her 
four small guns were placed in the fort by Morgan. On ApriJ 30 Galveston 
had ceased to be the capital, to become the capital for the second time 
•on May 5, when the Yellow Stone arrived with President Burnet, his 
Cabinet and Gen. Sam Houston, Gen. Santa Anna, General Cos, and many 
prisoners under a strong guard. The Cayuga and Laura were sent with 
provisions to the camp and brought more prisoners and wounded of both 
sides. Galveston's population was suddenly increased to two thousand 
people. Five hundred Mexican prisoners slept in a camp near the fort, 
vihich now had a garrison of four hundred men. 



TJie Early Hlstouj of Galvesto')i. 25' 

Vounteers arrived by the hundreds. The Mexican prisoners slept in 
the open air for several v^eeks before they received shelter. The sick and 
wounded were first cared for. Santa Anna and his aide, Colonel Almonte, 
spent their first night in Galveston in a shelter made from an old ship's 
cabin. .A hut had been prepared for him near the fort, but he refused 
to occupy it, fearing violence from the men of the army. A hut (one of 
Hall's) was then given him close to the presidential hut. General Cos, 
Colonel Bringas, Colonel Oceapecas, Colonel Potella and Captain Delgado 
all slept in the open until some tents arrived. Santa Anna was ill. He 
was a rather good looking man with small eyes, bushy eyebrows, and a 
firm mouth and chin. His lower lip protruded and his two front teeth 
were missing. His manners were very pleasing, and he looked anything 
but a tyrant. His skin was very sallow and he complained of fever. He 
tpoke no English, but fairly well in French. As his baggage had not 
arrived he was very seedy looking. He wore a cap, black boots, dirty 
white linen trousers and a blue cotton coat. (Probably the clothes he wore 
when captured.) He had changed his uniform for civilian's clothes in a 
house encountered in his flight from the battlefield. On the 27th of April 
he had written General Filsola to forward his "equipage." This probably 
only reached him at Velasco. Whilst on Galveston Island Gen. Santa Anna 
was provided with a few luxuries (sugar and wine) by Colonel Dyer, also 
some Jalap and bitter bark. (Peruvian.) Santa Anna was not an un- 
grateful man. History records v/here he later remembered kindness shown 
to him as a prisoner. Later at Velasco he wrote a letter of thanks to 
Colonel Dyer and sent him a saddle and saddle-blanket. (The saddle was 
stolen in New Orleans in 1837.) The letter and blanket were presented to 
Dyer's sister, Mrs. H. D. Symonds of New York. 

* * * 

Gen. Sam Houston, when he arrived, was in bad shape. His ankle was 
s^hattered by a musket ball, and he was carried on a litter. He was placed 
in the hut with Colonels Hall and Dyer. Colonel Dyer gave him his last 
blanket to lie upon (the other he had given the president's sick child). 
Houston's ankle was much inflamed and suppurating. He moaned day 
and night. There is no record of the medical gentleman who attended 
Houston (if he had any). Colonel Hall applied crushed charcoal and 
l-urned sugar as antiseptics. Houston remained in the hut from May 5 
^o May 11, when he sailed in the Flora for New Orleans. In the hut he 
dictated his famous proclamation- to the army. (Either Dyer or Hall wrote 
it down for him.) From New Orleans, Houston was taken North by one 
of the vessels of the Texas navy, some time later. The crushed bones of 
his foot were removed and he recovered. In the meantime President Burnet 
?.nd the Cabinet became alarmed at rumors of a large Mexican fleet bought 
in Europe, which was to rescue Santa Anna and capture the Cabinet on 
Galveston Island. The government was moved on May 10, and Santa 
Anna was taken along. Historians tell you that this was done owing to 
lack of accommodations at Galveston. The real reason was that retreat 
was possible for the army into the interior, whilst at Galveston the army 
vrould have been at the mercy of a strong naval force. Velasco had less 
accommodations than Galveston. Burnet wrote of his occupying a miser- 



26 The Early History of Galveston. 

able hut there. His child died there, and he had to sell a slave for ex- 
penses. * * * 

President Burnet's first act at Velasco was to appoint the Toby Bros., 
of New Orleans, the financial agents of the Republic. They had fitted out 
the privateer Toby, and were then getting the Green Regiment equipped. 
On May 14 Santa Anna signed the two treaties with the Republic of Texas. 
Santa Anna had been confined on a warship and was to be released. The 
army did not approve of this act, and when Green's Regiment arrived, 
"Green's New Orleans wharf rats" controlled the situation. They forced 
both Burnet and Green to be harsh to Santa Anna, who was finally sent 
to Dr. Phelps' farm on the Brazos. It was claimed that several attempts 
were made to release Santa Anna, and that he was chained to an iron 
rod. The prisoners and their guards were left at Galveston, the army 
finally concentrating near Harrisburg; the navy remaining in Galveston, 
where a naval station was built. Captain Delgado left a description of the 
suffering prisoners on Galveston, "the hell island." "Heat, mosquitoes, 
poor food, flies, brackish water and sandcrabs that ate the few rags of 
clothes left," were some of the evils enumerated. Money and supplies 
were scarce in the Texas army. The $10,000 captured at San Jacinto had 
been divided, the navy getting $3,000. The schooners Express and Col- 
umbus were sent to New Orleans to solicit and carry supplies. The army 
was idle, dissatisfied and hungry and wanted to court-martial or impeach 
the president. This ugly spirit developed after the arrival of Green's 
Regiment of rough volunteers. History tells you they arrived on June 1 
in the Ocean. Colonel Dyer's commission as aide de camp and major, 
signed by Thos. Jefferson Green, and approved by D. G. Burnet, bears the 
date of May 18, which would show that the Ocean arrived at Velasco pre- 
vious to that date. 

'Y ^ ^ 

The Ocean was commanded by Capt. R. Wilson, a Brazoria colonist, 
and the vessel chartered by Toby Bros, of New Orleans. She carried 
General Green, Pinckney Henderson, Memucan Hunt and about two hun- 
dred and fifty men. Arriving at Galveston and finding the Cabinet had 
left. General Green concluded not to use the camp on Galveston Island. 
The supplies were gathered and a few tents were placed aboard the Ocean 
by Colonel Dyer who also went to Velasco. Colonel Dyer and Colonel Gra- 
ham were sent to Goliad later with a small force, but tiring of the inactive 
life and lack of food they resigned in October, 1836. In November, Colonel 
Graham acted as second for Colonel Dyer, who fought a duel in New Or- 
leans with one Smith. (A clipping from a newspaper reporting this affair 
of honor is in the possession of the writer.) 

* * * 

Potter, the Secretary of the Navy, remained at Galveston to superin- 
tend the building of the navy yard. The Julius Caesar, with supplies, was 
captured by the Mexicans as she was about to enter the harbor. Galveston 
was not recognized by the "Columbia" Congress on October 3. Mr. Millin 
v/as refused admission. In August all the prisoners were sent to Hardin's 
farm on the Trinity. A small garrison was left at the fort, and the navy 
rendezvoused at the navy yard. 



The Early History of Galveston. 27 

Galveston continued to grow, however, until October 9, 1837, when the 
hurricane and flood made almost a clean sweep. The navy yard was 
damaged, the Toby foundered, the Flash foundered and the men at the fort 
saved themselves on vessels. Several lives were lost. 

In 1836 the site of Lafitte's fort was distinguishable by the moat or 
ditch which surrounded it. A trip to the sand hills through the "Bush" 
necessitated the use of a ship chain, which had to be clanged to clear the 
way of snakes. Late in 1836 a number of stores sprang up at Saccarap 
Ridge; these were on pilings. Solomon Parr, J. De Cordova and Mussina 
are recalled as some of the early storekeepers. John Hughes brought water 
in barrels from the Trinity. One of Colonel Hall's negroes on the island 
spoke French fluently. He acted as interpreter for Santa Anna when 
Captain Almonte, who spoke English, was not available. 

This same negro, in constructing a hut for some refugee women near 
the bayou, unearthed several skeletons. He fled and could not be induced 
to continue the work at that location, so a new hut was built further east. 
The skeletons of men who died in Lafitte's time were buried in the sand 
hills of the gulf. 

The Mexican prisoners became very ill with dysentery. The flies also 

were very troublesome, the sanitation being defective. Colonel Morgan 

used the prisoners to dig deep ditches connecting with the salt water to 
receive the sewerage of the camp. 

Colonel Hall presented Colonel Dyer with a pair of pistols captured at 
San Jacinto. They had long single barrels, ivory grips, silver mounted. 
They were loaded at the muzzle and fired by a flint-lock which communi- 
cated with a pan on which a little loose powder was placed. The flint- 
lock pistols were used by old-timers to kindle their fires, saving many sore 
knuckles and much time. 

Pistols were mostly used for duelling. As it took as long to load a 
pistol as a rifle, they did not figure much in warfare. 

* * * 

J. Morgan furnished beef. A well, said to have been built by Lafitte 
in the east end, had filled up, and the springs back of the sand hills later 
were not then in existence. There were no ants in Galveston in 1836. They 
came later in cargoes of coffee. The first milk obtained in the settlement 
was from goats that practically ran wild. 

* * * 

Ovens were built in 1836 and 1837 in the following manner. Oyster 
shells were finely pounded, mixed with a little mortar and made into bricks. 
These were baked in hot ashes in a pit and then when hard the oven was 
constructed from these bricks. The first stove reached Galveston in 1839. 

* * * 

The beach in the early days had many green turtles that laid their 
eggs in the sand. Alligators were numerous in the ponds, and the snakes 
were a menace. The early settlers slept in hammocks suspended from the 
ceilings for fear of the snakes. Many deer swam over to the island attracted 
by the rich grasses. In 1836 a few half-breed Indians had a camp at 



28 The Early History of Galveston. 

Eagle Grove. They were descendants of Lafitte's men and Indian wives. 
After the storm of 1837 those that survived moved to Copano Bay. 

* * * 

The dueling field in 1836 was the same as in Lafitte's time, the end 
of the Point. The Point in Lafitte's time, however, must have extended 
much further east. Colonel Hall fought a duel there in 1819 with one 
Derieux, a trader and ship-owner. Derieux was seriously wounded. Colonel 
Millard had a difficulty with another officer of the Texas army, and they 
were said to have fought at the Point. Later Pelican Island became the 
dueling field of Galveston. 

-t- * * 

Probably the only time in the early history of Galveston when no 
treasure seekers burrowed on the island was in 1836. That silver was found 
on the beach frequently cannot be wondered at considering the large num- 
ber of vessels wrecked on the island when Spain traded with her rich 
colony, Mexico. Early in 1836, when the wreckage piles on the sandhills 
were dug out for building material, a quantity of silver plate was found 
three or four feet below the surface. Also three gold Spanish doubloons. 

In 1836 those that died were buried in the marsh east of Eighteenth 
Street. 

In 1836 some cattle down the island were pastured by one of the Bor- 
dens. 

* * * 

Late in 1836 a ferry was established at San Luis, and there was some 
travel along the beach to that point. The Klebergs lived down the island. 

President Burnet, on Sept. 13, 1836, wrote an address to the people of 
Texas, which was published in the Telegraph and Texas Register. Having 
been severely criticised, he took this method of explaining his actions whilst 
President of the Republic. He was accused of neglecting to provide for 
the army, whilst some went as far as accusing him of accepting a money 
bribe from Santa Anna. A few hot-heads attempted to arrest the Presi- 
dent, and to bring charges against him to be heard at a court-martial. The 
President in this paper certainly cleared himself of the charges brought 
against him. However, it is only in regard to his reference to Galveston 
that this document will be called upon for material. The various procla- 
mations issued at Galveston have already been described. From his address 
it may be judged that he considered it his duty to remain at Galveston to 
guard the helpless women and children, as well as to establish a place of 
refuge for the army where it could make a final stand in case of defeat. 
He undoubtedly was kind to the captive Mexican general, and showed con- 
siderable nobility of character in shielding that abject tyrant and coward. 
For instance, Burnet wrote that when he arrived at the battlefield he 
found the camp had been moved north for sanitary reasons, and that 
Santa Anna occupied the only house near the battlefield. Other accounts 
had it that Santa Anna insisted on remaining near where the wounded 
Sam Houston was camped, first lying under a tree, and subsequently in a 



The Early History of Galveston. 29 

tent captured from the Mexicans. The men of the army had been very 
Threatening to Santa Anna, and he was ill from fright. 

When the Yellow Stone arrived at Galveston on May 5 with the prison- 
ers it was decided to place Santa Anna in a hut near Fort Travis. Again 
lie objected and begged so hard that a hut was placed at his disposal near 
Burnet's and Sam Houston's. Burnet in his address only mentioned that 
Santa Anna was placed in the keeping of Captain Hawkins on the Inde- 
pendence, then in the harbor. This was partly true, for on the 8th at 
night some one fired a shot into Santa Anna's hut, and Captain Hawkins 
was ordered to fit up a cabin for him. It should be remembered that 
Burnet was very anxious to have the peace treaties signed, and did not at 
all desire injury or death of the Mexican chief, for the Texas army really 
was destitute and incapable of further prolonged fighting. This attempt 
on the life of Santa Anna undoubtedly caused the Cabinet to remove to 
Velasco, taking the prisoner along. There may have been other reasons, 
t>uch as Galveston being liable to seizure by a strong fleet which could 
have invested the whole island. Burnet states that the reason was the 
lack of accommodations at Galveston; but further on he admitted that the 
Cabinet did not improve their condition in that respect. (Both places had 
been damaged by the gulf storm and Velasco in May, 1836, had seven or 
eight store rooms and a few dwellings. It had the advantage of Galveston 
in having better buildings and a supply of drinking water, but it was not 
the health resort of Austin's colony with a number of boarding houses, as 
described in Holley's History of Texas.) On May 10 early the move to 
Velasco was made. As General Green's force followed up the Cabinet to 
Velasco, they did not escape having the army close at hand. The balance 
of the troops were at Harrisburg and on Galveston Island. Green's men 
were very unruly, being mostly composed of levee loafers and adventurers. 
However, Green kept them in check and undoubtedly not only protected 
Burnet, but also Santa Anna, when the army insisted on his being landed 
at Quintana. The treaties had now been signed, but the murder of Santa 
Anna would have rendered them useless. Mrs.- Looscan, in a sketch of 
Mrs. Burnet, stated that the lady slept with two pistols at night to protect 
her husband. About May 12 Col. David Thomas died at Galveston from an 
accidental pistol wound received whilst on his way some weeks previously 
to the island to escape capture. He was the Attorney General in the Cabi- 
net, and Grayson was appointed to fill his place. Burnet was likewise 
accused of dishonest practices in regard to the management of the Texas 
Land and Galveston Bay Company. However, Burnet and the Vice Presi- 
dent were undoubtedly duped by New York Wall Street sharks. General 
Mason, who figured in the same company, helped Texas to fit out her fleet, 
advancing the money for the Liberty and paying expenses for the Brutus. 
He died in Galveston in 1850. 

* * * 

General Cos' life also was attempted; he was greatly despised for having 
broken his parole, having been released when San Antonio was captured. 

^,: ^ ^- 

Burnet at Velasco lived in a hut and sold a slave when his child died 



30 The Early History of Galveston. 

to pay expenses, so that the charge of bribery against him was unfounded. 
General Cos remained on Galveston Island until August, when he was sent 
to Hardin's camp on the Trinity. 

* * * 

The Mexicans used copper balls in their warfare. 

On May 15 a Mr. Trask died from blood poison from a copper; ball. He 
bad been wounded in a skirmish with Mexicans on April 1.5 and brought to 
Galveston from Harrisburg. 



partial list. 

Of those here in 1836, the following have found their final resting place 
in Galveston cemeteries: 

burnet 1). G President of the Republic 

Sherman, Gen. Sidney 2nd Reg., San Jacinto 

Hall, Col. Warren D. C Staff Officer and Secretary of War 

Labadie, Dr. N. D Physician at San Jacinto 

Collingsworth, J Secretary of State 

Austin, Col. W. T Pioneer 

Dyer, Col. Leon • Staff Officer and Major 

Farish, Oscar San Jacinto 

Dunbar, Wm Co. B, Volunteers 

Franklin, Capt. B. C Co. K 

Jack, Patrick C Pioneer 

Jack, W. H Pioneer 

Somerville, A First Regiment, Texas Volunteers 

Quirk, E San Jacinto 

Heard, J. E. Capt Co. F 

Hurd, Norman Texas Navy 

Haskins, Thos. A First Regiment 

Sylvester, Jas. A Co. A 

Falvel, Capt. Luke Navy 

Burns Aaron, Lieut Navy 

Hardin, Wm Pioneer 

Menard, M. B Pioneer 

Peacock, Jas San Jacinto 

Callahan, John T San Jacinto 

Maas, Sam Merchant 

A lien, I. M San Jacinto and navy 



END OF PART I. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



014 649 231 9 




